
Betelgeuse (sounds a
lot like "beetle juice"), a red supergiant star about 600 light years distant,
is seen in this Hubble
Space Telescope image - the first direct picture
of the surface of a star other than the Sun. While Betelgeuse is
cooler than the Sun, it is more massive and over
1000 times larger. If placed at the center of our Solar
System, it would extend past the orbit of Jupiter. Betelgeuse
is also known as Alpha Orionis, one of the brightest
stars in the familiar constellation of Orion, the
Hunter. The name
Betelgeuse is Arabic in origin. As a massive red supergiant, it is nearing the
end of its life and will soon become a supernova. In this historic image,
a
bright hotspot is revealed on the star's surface.
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